Guatemalan journalist Zamora granted house arrest after over two years behind bars

Imprisoned journalist Jose Ruben Zamora Marroquin, founder and president of the newspaper El Periodico, waits for the start of a court hearing in Guatemala City, Guatemala October 18, 2024. REUTERS/Josue Decavele

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) -A Guatemalan judge on Friday ruled that jailed journalist Jose Zamora can leave prison and be held in house arrest after over 800 days behind bars.

Zamora, a well-known journalist who founded the now-defunct elPeriodico newspaper and whose work has criticized successive governments, was arrested in July 2022 on money laundering charges.